With a New Year beginning many of us will have set ourselves a New Year’s resolution to lead a healthier lifestyle, and Cardiff Council has set itself a similar task.
In 2009 Cardiff become the first Welsh city to be given World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy Cities status with Cardiff Council pledging that health will be a key part of the Council’s agenda.
To celebrate the Healthy Cities Status, a special Cardiff Healthy City event will take place on January 13. The event will take place at Cardiff City Stadium which has recently been awarded the title of European Healthy Stadia for their commitment to promoting health and health activities.
The Healthy Cities event will see representatives from a variety of public organisations incuding Cardiff Council, Welsh Assembly Government, Cardiff Health Alliance, Cardiff’s Proud Capital Vision Forum, and the NHS come together and discuss ways in which to take the Healthy Cities Status forward.
Speakers include Cardiff Council’s Leader Cllr Rodney Berman and Cllr John Dixon Executive Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing, Dr Tony Jewell the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Agis Tsouros Head, World Health Organization Centre for Urban Governance and Healthy Cities, Peter Ridsalde ,Chairman of Cardiff City Football Club and many more.
Workshops will also take place to give delegates the opportunity to work together and discuss how issues including alcohol, transport, regeneration, housing and social inclusion can affect people’s lifestyles and health. The debate will contribute to the development of the Cardiff Healthy City programme which will inform action over the next 5 years.
Cardiff Council Executive Member for Health, Social Care and Well Being, Councillor John Dixon, said:” It’s a great achievement for Cardiff to be the first city in Wales to be awarded Healthy Cities Status. The event this month will give us the opportunity to once again work with partner organisations to take the agenda of making Cardiff a healthier place to work, live and visit forward.
“One of our key priorities as a Council is to address the issue of obesity. Obesity is potentially the next big killer, which can leave people with chronic health problems. The answer can’t be to just treat people through the NHS and send them home again, but rather to design our city, educate people and provide opportunities that stop people developing these problems in the first place.”
